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Elephantine Island and Nubia

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Bianca
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« Reply #30 on: November 12, 2008, 03:01:30 pm »










                                                      N O M E N C L A T U R E






Archaeological Names vs. Political Names



In the study of Nubian history and archaeology, specialists use two kinds of names to refer to the various ancient people and cultures they encounter; these are political names and archaeological names.

Political names derive from ancient texts, and they reflect the actual names that the Egyptians,
Greeks, or Nubians themselves gave to certain parts of Nubia or to the different Nubian peoples.

Archaeological names are those names given to particular cultures or industries which are detectable
by archaeology but for which there are no associated ancient names. Thus, there is no way to know what names the people of these cultures gave themselves.

Here the archaeologists provide these cultures with either arbitrary (and artificial) designations , e.g.: "A-Group, B-Group" and "X-Group," or they name them according to the archaeological sites in which they were first discovered or which became their main centers, e.g.: "Kerma Culture" (referring
to the succession of Nubian cultures found at the city of Kerma).

Sometimes, the archaeological and arbitrary designations are mixed, e.g., the X-Group can also be referred to as the "Ballana Culture," since a main site for this culture is the cemetery of Ballana.

Rarely, a political/textual name might combine with an archaeological designation, e.g., Nubadae-people can now be identified with the X-Group. Similarly, it has been suggested (justifiably or not) that the C-Group might be those people which the Egyptians named the Tjemehu (i.e., Libyans of the central Sahara).
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« Reply #31 on: November 12, 2008, 03:02:43 pm »









Egyptian Names of Nubia



All of the lands south and southeast of Egypt (sometimes also including the northeast) the Egyptians called, Ta-netjer, "God's Land." Within this great region, the Egyptians located the different countries and people of Nubia. From the Old Kingdom onward, in addition to Ta-Seti, the Egyptians applied the name Ta- Nehesy as a general designation for Nubia (n.b., nehesy means, "nubian;" Panehesy, "the Nubian" becomes a common personal name, developing into the Biblical name, Phineas). At the same time, Egyptians gave the name Wawat specifically to Lower Nubia. This name derived from one of several Nubian chiefdoms which were located in this region during the late Old Kingdom. A generic designation of the desert nomads of Nubia was the term Iuntiu or Iuntiu-setiu , "Nubian tribesmen (lit. 'bowmen')." The names which the Egyptians used to refer to the various parts of Nubia and its different peoples usually changed depending upon the era and the particular tribal group in a given area.

Elsewhere in the Old Kingdom, the names Irtjet , Zatju , and Kaau were used for particular people and areas of the country. While, previously, they were thought to be in Lower Nubia, David O'Connor has recently made a strong case for locating them in Upper Nubia. The Land of Yam , visited by Harkhuf, Governor of Elephantine, in the late 6th Dynasty, was apparently located around the Fifth or Sixth Cataracts. The Land of Punt was a country located east of Upper Nubia and bordering on the Red Sea (i.e., extending from the highlands to the sea). Since the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians often enjoyed a productive relationship with a Nubian tribal people from the land of Medja , named the Medjay (called the "Pan-Grave People" by archaeologists). As fierce warriors, they were incorporated as mercenaries into the Egyptian army as early as the 6th Dynasty. Later in the New Kingdom, they were employed as the police force in Egypt, and the word medjay became the ancient Egyptian term for "policeman."

From the Middle Kingdom onward, the Egyptians regularly used the name Kush to refer to the powerful independent kingdom based in Upper Nubia, first at Kerma (until that was destroyed by the Egyptians in the sixteenth century BC), thereafter at Napata , then Meroe (pronounced "meroway"). Kush is identified as the Land of Kush in the Holy Bible. Kush's political dependency was the territory of Sha'at (in the region of the Isle of Sai). Other names attested at this time (mostly in execration texts) are: Iryshek, Tua, Imana'a and Ruket . In the eastern mountains were Awshek and Webet- sepat .

In the early 18th Dynasty, the Egyptians also used the name Khenet-hennefer to refer to Kush, especially during the military campaigns of Ahmose and Tuthmosis I. It appears as a general designation of the area of Upper Nubia between the Second and Fourth Cataracts, and designates the region for which the city of Kerma was the center or capital. The name Irem was applied in the 18th Dynasty to the people who apparently lived in the southern reach of the Dongola Bend (i.e., the old territory of Yam). Later in the dynasty, the name Karoy was applied to the vicinity of Napata.

In the Late Period and during the Kingdom of Meroe , the name, Island of Meroe , was given to the triangular stretch of land on the east bank of the Nile, south of the Fifth Cataract. This section, dominated by the city of Meroe, was bordered on the north by the Atbara River, on the west by the Nile, and on the south by the Blue Nile. The Island of Meroe was the heartland of Meroitic civilization and the political and cultural center of the Kingdom of Meroe from ca. 590 BC to AD 300.



http://touregypt.net/historicalessays/nubiae1.htm
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« Reply #32 on: November 12, 2008, 07:20:29 pm »



               









                                                         Elephantine, Town of All Ages





 

On a 12-meter high granite rock standing out of the Nile River in the southern part of Aswan lies the lofty
ancient town of Elephantine. Excavation of the site, which has been on stream for 30 years now, was finally crowned with success. Work is now in full swing under the supervision of Gaballah Ali Gaballah, Secretary-
General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, so as to put the final touches before the town be opened for
the public.

Elephantine, which is a resounding architectural triumph, is the only historic town of its kind since the temples, housing and industrial estates built on its land illustrate the progress of the ancient Egyptian civilization as of prehistoric ages (3500 BC) to the Islamic era.

Elephantine enjoys a very safe position at the top of a 12-meter rock - hence invulnerability to high subterranean water levels. It is because Elephantine has a relatively small area, extensive excavations throughout the town have been carried out. In Pharaonic times, Elephantine had a strategic position being the southern frontier town.



The gate of the town lies south-west of the garden of Aswan Museum. It leads to the last temple built under the Ptolemic reign (2300 BC) for the worship of goddess Satit (Elephantine Mistress). Like other temples built during that period, Satit temple was later used as a quarry. It had an air of abandonment and neglect to such an extent that only the foundations remained after everything else has disappeared.

Excavation has proved that Satit temple underwent frequent processes of restoration but it remained a small simple hut built of unbaked bricks nevertheless. A large amount of offerings to Satit made by royalty and the populace was also unearthed. About 1.3Km from the temple’s gate there is evidence of prehistoric settlements.

In addition to Satit temple, Elephantine hosts Khnum temple, a stairway built by the Romans, the sacred harbour which Amenhotep III built in the 18th Dynasty and two other temples which date back to the Roman-Ptolemic era and of which nothing remained except for loose huge stones beyond number.

The north side of the stairway bears inscriptions suggesting that the stairway was erected in 139 AD. The stairway was only used during festivals to link the harbor and the temples’ area.


                                   


The island where Elephantine is located was thousands of years BC divided into two parts. East of Elephantine lie the tombs of the rulers of Elephantine in the Old Kingdom and Dynasty XII, the ruins of the monastery of ecclesiastic Samman and the mausoleum of Agha Khan which was erected in the 50’s in the 20th c. North of Elephantine lies a basilica dating back to the 6th c BC. To the north-east lie the temples of Satit and Khnum rebuilt under the reign of Mentuhotep II and Sesostris I.

Little pieces of furniture were unearthed since furniture made of wood and straw was used to operate stoves. A treasure of coins dating back to the early Ptolemic era, a marriage contract concluded under the reign of Nectanebo II and some utensils made of metal such as stoves grinders and vessels were unearthed as well. All are exhibited alongside other antiquities unearthed by fresh excavations in the Excavation Museum.

    "A lot of concerted efforts exerted by the Egyptian Higher Institute of Antiquities together with the Swiss Archaeological and Architectural Research Institute has been put to render success this event,"

Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni said.



http://www.touregypt.net/elphantinemore.htm
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« Reply #33 on: November 12, 2008, 07:32:26 pm »

                    










               
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« Reply #34 on: November 12, 2008, 07:46:08 pm »



TEMPLE OF SATET
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« Reply #35 on: November 12, 2008, 07:48:11 pm »

                       

                       TEMPLE OF SATET
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« Reply #36 on: November 12, 2008, 07:49:01 pm »



TEMPLE OF SATET
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« Reply #37 on: November 12, 2008, 07:55:35 pm »




                                      
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« Reply #38 on: November 12, 2008, 08:07:39 pm »




                 
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« Reply #39 on: November 12, 2008, 08:11:10 pm »



        
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« Reply #40 on: November 12, 2008, 08:13:18 pm »




         
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« Reply #41 on: November 12, 2008, 08:14:40 pm »




           
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« Reply #42 on: November 12, 2008, 08:15:53 pm »




               
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« Reply #43 on: November 12, 2008, 08:20:41 pm »









                                                Satet Temple - Preceding Pictures



                                           Commissioned by Hatshepsut c. 1480 BCE







The southern town of Elephantine was important in ancient times as a border town, later as a predecessor of modern Aswan. Originally it was called Abu, meaning ivory as well as elephant, testifying linguistically to the importance of the trade in ivory.

Excavations have been on-going since 1969 at the ancient town where settlements had existed since prehistoric times (about 3500 BCE) until the Islamic period. The site has been ideal for excavation since no modern buildings had been constructed over the ancient settlement and since the site was restricted in size.
 
The ruins include a variety of buildings located on the south end of Elephantine Island across from the modern city of Aswan.     
   
Archaeologists believe a sanctuary dedicated to the antelope goddess Satet existed at this site in about 3200 BCE. This temple was repeatedly reconstructed. In the Eighteenth Dynasty under the reigns of both Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III (c. 1490-1440 BCE) a larger temple to Satet was commissioned. However, later, during the Greco-Roman period stones from several temples on the site were used as building materials for later structures, often with only the foundation remaining of the earlier buildings.
Current excavations show the developments of this temple site through three thousand years, with the Sixth Dynasty temple rebuilt on the original location and with the Eighteenth Dynasty temple erected above it on a concrete platform. The temple design has a kind of ambulatory or peristyle. The ceiling was once supported by pillars with Hathor capitals.

More than 500 blocks of the Satet Temple commissioned by Queen Hatshepsut have been recovered and reassembled, the reassembly made possible in part because the blocks had portions of reliefs engraved on them, thus providing a kind of huge jigsaw puzzle. Reliefs show the Queen worshipping various gods, with Satet chief among them. Other deities include Amun and the ram god Khnum, depicted on the left in the left-hand image. Another tableau depicts a procession of boats on the Nile (c
 


http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/egypt/aswan/satet.html
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